


Love At First Fight

by ExhaustedCommonSense



Series: Wind and Flame [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Discrimination, F/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 12:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1225903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExhaustedCommonSense/pseuds/ExhaustedCommonSense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gaila wasn't sure what to make of Earth; all she knew was that her life suddenly got a lot more interesting when she met Jim Kirk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was her first year at Starfleet academy and it was a strange experience. As the first Orion to join Starfleet, Gaila knew that there’d be cultural differences that she’d have to get used to; one of them being the way that humans were so conservative about sex and nudity. Both things were accepted on her home planet, especially since the chlorophyll in their skin meant that most Orions wore little to no clothing so that they could absorb sunrays better.

It was hard on Earth, she had to take hormone suppressants so that she wasn’t influencing everyone around her, and she wasn’t allowed to walk around naked which meant that she couldn’t absorb as much sunlight as usual. Unfortunately, this meant that she had to take hypos to make up for the lack of sunlight.

Earth was beginning to feel less foreign daily and most of it was thanks to her roommate Nyota Uhura who taught her what was and wasn’t acceptable and never treated her differently. She never judged her for her one night stands, other than asking her if she could take her conquests back to their dorm so that she didn’t have to study elsewhere.

However, for all the nice people like Nyota, there were also horrible people who only believed the stories about Orions. Unluckily for her, she happened to come across three of such people while walking back to her dorm room alone after a late class.

“Well,” one of the three men drawled, he had a crooked nose that made her think that he’d been in a few fights. “Lookie here, boys, it’s the Orion whore.”

Another man with dark hair sniggered. “I heard she’ll let anyone have her, no payment needed.”

The last man with white blond hair chuckled darkly, leaning forward so that he was pressed into her personal space. “How about it? Fancy opening those pretty legs for me and my friends?”

They were stood so that she was trapped against a wall with them surrounding her. Gaila felt her heart beat too fast in fear; her home planet was known for a lot of things, but they respected sex; it was something that was freely given so there was no need to force it. It was an unthinkable thing where she came from, even the cruellest slave drivers wouldn’t force their slaves; they didn’t need to since most Orions were open to the idea.

“I just want to get back to my dorm,” she told them, trying to sound confident even as her voice wavered in fear. “Please move out of my way.”

Blondie snorted, getting even closer until his arms were bracketing me. “How about I stay right where I am? We all know what Orions are like, so don’t act like you don’t want it.”

“Get away from me!” She cried, pushing his chest as hard as she could so that he stumbled back a few steps. Taking her chance, Gaila rushed through the small opening in an attempt to escape, letting out a small scream when Crooked Nose grabbed both of her arms and dragged her back.

“You little slut,” Blondie snarled; it was becoming clear that he was the leader of the group. “Hold her still.”

Crooked Nose tightened his grip and Gaila knew that she would end up with bruises, but that was the least of her worries as Blondie gripped the front of her standard red Cadet dress and tore it down the middle to expose her white underwear.

“No!” She screamed, hoping that the noise would make someone realize what was happening. “Get off of me!”

Dark Hair yanked on her hair so that her head snapped back, causing her scream to get caught in her throat. She struggled against the hands holding her, but didn’t manage to dislodge them. Blondie leered at her, pushing aside the torn dress so that he could get a better look at her body.

“Hey!” A different voice shouted out, causing them to look in that direction. “Let her go!”

The new comer was a man with sandy coloured hair and bright blue eyes, the other men didn’t seem to think he was a threat since they relaxed when they saw him. Gaila’s hopes of being rescued diminished at the relaxed postures of her attackers; she’d never seen Blue Eyes before so as far as she knew he was as bad as the others.

“Relax, Kirk, You know how it is,” Crooked Nose sneered. “She’s just an Orion; they do this all the time. We’ll even let you have a go if you ask nicely.”

“If she wanted to be here you wouldn’t have to be holding her,” Kirk spat angrily. “Now let her go.”

“Listen, Kirk,” Blondie glared at him, taking a step away from her to face her could-be rescuer. “We’ve been nice, offering you a turn, if you don’t want it then leave. It’s three against one, do you really want to risk that for some Orion bitch?”

Kirk stepped forward until he was toe to toe with Blondie. “I’d risk worse than that if it would stop scum like you.” Without giving Blondie a chance to reply, Kirk punched him in the face.

The fight went quickly from there; it was clear that Kirk was a better fighter than the others. He managed to take on both Dark Hair and Blondie at the same time; knocking out Blondie and giving Dark Hair a nose to match his friend. Determined not to be a helpless victim, Gaila slammed her head back so that she hit Crooked Nose, causing him to release her.

They scattered after that, leaving Blondie behind. Gaila watched carefully as Kirk approached her, getting ready to run if she needed to. He moved slowly, as if he could sense how skittish she was; she waited for him to make a move, still tempted to just flee. Kirk pulled off his blue jumper and held it out to her, offering her a way of covering up.

It was a strange gesture to her; she had to shame in showing her body, she would have been perfectly happy walking around campus nude. However, she knew that women on Earth preferred to keep covered up and, for once, she felt quite vulnerable in just her torn dress; perhaps because she wasn’t in just her underwear by her own choice.

Cautiously, she accepted the jumper and pulled it on, relieved to find that it went to halfway down her thigh. She was still nervous around Kirk, unsure if he expected anything from her for saving her.

“My name’s Jim Kirk,” her rescuer introduced himself, waiting patiently for her name but not asking.

“I’m Gaila,” she finally said, looking at him as if she was trying to figure him out.

“Well, Gaila,” he smiled at her. “Will you allow me to walk you to your dorm?”

She nodded slowly, giving Blondie a vicious kick in the gut as she walked past him. Kirk walked next to her, not touching her, but staying close enough that she could reach out if she wanted to. They didn’t speak during the walk to her dorm, only pausing once they were outside her door.

“Don’t worry about those guys,” Kirk told her suddenly. “I know their names and I’ll report them. I’ll go straight to Captain Pike’s office now and they’ll be kicked out of Starfleet for this.”

“How do you know he’ll listen to you?” Gaila asked curiously, a little concerned that the Captain he mentioned would be like the men that attacked her. Even if he wasn’t, he could still believe that all Orions were whores, like Blondie had said.

“He’s my advisor,” Kirk shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal having someone as high up as your advisor. “He has to listen to me. Plus, he’s a decent guy, he’ll sort it out. And if he doesn’t, I’ll make sure none of them can ever try anything like that again.”

The nasty way he said reassured her; that was what she was more used to. The violence in his voice told her that he really would go after her attackers if nothing was done about it; he would avenge her without her even asking him for it. For Earth women, that might not have been a good thing; they might assume it meant that he was a violent man. For Gaila, it meant that he was willing to risk himself to protect her and strong enough to do it.

“Thank you,” she smiled at him. “Do you want your jumper back?”

She’d noticed on the walk to her dorm that Kirk was dressed in casual clothing rather than the Cadet uniform. He was in blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt, the jumper that he’d given her was a dark blue with white writing on that read ‘ _I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person_ ’.

“Keep it,” he offered, stepping back and getting ready to leave. “I’ll see you around.”

Gaila watched as he walked away, taking note of the fact that he was walking towards the offices of the higher ups. For some reason, she had no doubt that he was going to go straight to Captain Pike, just like he’d said. Smiling at the thought, she hugged the jumper closer to her and entered her dorm room.

Nyota looked up when she entered the room and her eyes went wide in surprise. Gaila thought that she must have looked a fright; her hair a tangled mess, wearing a torn dress that was barely covered by a jumper that was too big for her.

“What happened?” She demanded, jumping up off of her bed and walking over. “Are you okay?”

For some unknown reason, it was then, looking into the concerned eyes of her best friend that everything hit her. Her eyes welled up with tears and she fell forward into Nyota’s arms, crying softly against her shoulder.

“Some men attacked me,” she cried, more than happy to accept the comfort Nyota was offering. “They called me a whore and wouldn’t take no as an answer. I was so scared!”

“Did they hurt you?” Nyota asked, letting her go so that she could look her in the eye. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No,” Gaila shook her head, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. “I’m fine; some guy stopped them before anything could happen.”

She didn’t tell her that the guy who’d saved her was Jim Kirk; she’d heard Nyota ranting about him enough times to know that the news wouldn’t be well received. Instead, she let Nyota take care of her; allowing her to order some hot chocolate out of their replicator and then tuck her in once Gaila had got changed into her night dress.

Nyota didn’t say anything about how Gaila wore the jumper to bed, just accepting that if it made her feel better than it was something good. Gaila smiled as she fell asleep, knowing that she had one of the best friends in the world. Instead of the nightmares that she’d feared would come to her, she dreamt of Jim Kirk; knowing in her heart that she wouldn’t ever find a more suitable partner and vowing to find him again.


	2. Chapter 2

True to his word, Jim went straight to Pike’s office after walking Gaila back to her dorm. Pike promised that the attackers would be kicked out of Starfleet and forced to stand trial for attempted rape. Jim refused to name the cadet that he’d helped; he wasn’t sure if she wanted to be dragged into the legal proceedings. Thankfully, Pike didn’t push and let him go after writing down the names of the three men.

After that, he began to see a lot more of the Orion; she was completely different to the girl he’d rescued. The shock of the attack had made her shy, but in reality, Gaila was an incredibly confident woman who wasn’t the slightest bit embarrassed by anything to do with sex or nudity.

They would stop and talk to each other and eat together whenever they could; this meant that Gaila got to know Bones quite well since he was with Jim most of the time. Ever the gentleman, Bones was always kind and respectful to Gaila, something that she seemed to delight in. She began calling him Leo and he made no objections to the name.

Somehow, probably because of how well their personalities matched, Jim and Gaila skipped the acquaintance and friend stages of their friendship; they went straight from strangers to friends that flirt with each other. They were both known as players and would often brag to each other about who they’d managed to seduce, sometimes making a game out of it.

It was Gaila who made the move that pushed them from flirting to friends with benefits; they were alone in Jim’s dorm when she leaned over and kissed him. From there, they decided they could be friends that had sex since they were already good friends and both of them were known for one night stands.

Jim was the one that noticed they were in a relationship; Gaila had begun leaving a toothbrush and a few items of clothing in his dorm since she was there a lot. That would have been fine; she’d used his dorm as a second home when they were just friends, Bones had no problems with her staying over and he’d begun to get used to seeing her walk around naked or in her underwear.

“Have you slept with anyone else since we made this arrangement?” He questioned one night while they were lying naked in his bed – Bones was working a shift at the hospital.

“No,” she replied truthfully, deciding it would be pointless to lie. “Have you?”

“No,” he answered, sounding thoughtful. They’d been sleeping together for two months, but he’d only realized that he was only sleeping with Gaila when he went to a bar for a drink and found that he couldn’t be bothered chatting a girl up when he already had a beautiful Orion who he could joke with afterwards. “I guess that means we’re in a relationship.”

Gaila hummed her agreement, pleased that her plan of making Jim her partner had worked. Nothing really changed after that; they continued to flirt with other people, but it never went any further and they were both more affectionate to each other. Bones was pleased; one, because it meant not finding strange women in his dorm, and two, because he liked Gaila and it was clear that Jim was really fond of her.

It should have freaked Jim out to think that he was in a real relationship, but Gaila made it so simple; she never told him off for looking at other women and she never got jealous. He could still treat her as a friend and she didn’t mind if he ditched her to go out with Bones. Truthfully, he couldn’t freak out because nothing had changed; he’d already been in the relationship for two months without knowing it.

For Gaila’s sake, Jim tried to get closer to Uhura, but she seemed determined to only see the bad in him. It upset both of them because she was Gaila’s best friend and she didn’t even know they were together. It made her feel guilty that she knew all about her budding romance with Spock, but Nyota knew nothing about her serious relationship with Jim.

It was a relief for both of them when Nyota found out about their marriage; it meant no more secrets and Gaila was thrilled to be able to talk to her about it. Jim was just happy that she had her friend back; after thinking he’d lost her, he was willing to do anything to make her happy. He didn’t seem to realize that she was always at her happiest when she was with him.


End file.
